LeBron James will leave the Cleveland Cavaliers after this year

In 2014, when LeBron announced he was coming home, all of Cleveland rejoiced. The Chosen One, their savior, was returning to them for what they hoped would be the rest of his career. Unfortunately, it does not seem like that dream will come to fruition. The first time LeBron left, in 2010, he suffered enormous backlash from both fans and media members for his decision to leave Cleveland. This time, he won’t. He brought them their title, he delivered them what he said he would. Now, he’s got one season left in his hometown to bring them one more against the monster that is Golden State.

Lonzo Ball will win Rookie of the Year

The Rookie of the year will come down between Markelle Fultz, Ben Simmons and Lonzo Ball. The other rookies don’t have games that will captivate the voters well enough or are not in the situations to put up good numbers. Out of these 3, Lonzo Ball has the most reliable supporting cast. Surrounding him are Brook Lopez, Kentavious Caldwell Pope, and Julius Randle. Lopez and Randle give him solid options to run a pick and roll with and Caldwell Pope can be a good three-point shooter and a reliable defender to reduce Ball’s defensive responsibility. While Fultz and Simmons might have more talented supporting casts with Joel Embiid, until Embiid proves he can stay healthy, the advantage in supporting casts goes to Lonzo and LA.

Two teams from the West will win at least 60 games, one of those will win 70

The Warriors and Rockets will both win 60 games. No team in the East will reach that plateau, as the Celtics will need a month or so to acclimate to the new roster, and LeBron and the Cavaliers will do as they have before and relax during the regular season. The Warriors will win 70 games, they just have too much talent on this roster not to win 3 more games than last year. The Rockets had the best offseason of any team, they added players with incredible talent and players that fit the system they want to run this year.

One NBA coach will be fired either during or immediately after the season

It’s been a honeymoon period of sorts for coaches. No coach has been fired since Dave Joerger was fired on May 7^th, 2016. That honeymoon period will be ending soon. Many teams have coaches who have a lot to prove this year. Alvin Gentry has been given talent in New Orleans. If that team gets off to a slow start, there could be whispers about Gentry’s job being vulnerable. Fred Hoiberg has not been a good coach in his time. He was given a top-15 NBA player, Jimmy Butler, and immediately clashed with him. In the ensuing power struggle, the Bulls management chose Hoiberg over Butler in a move that puzzled many. If Hoiberg does poorly this year or loses the locker room, management could ponder a coaching change.

Stephen Curry will win MVP

Whenever super teams form, there is an initial reluctance from voters to award players from that team. When LeBron moved to Miami, he didn’t win an MVP in his first season, even though he was deserving. He won it the following two years. That’s what you’ll see with this Warriors team. Neither Steph nor Durant won it, although that was partly due to Durant’s injury. The voters will pick one of the two if the Warriors have the regular season everyone expects them to have. Then, the question is who to pick between the two. Both are phenomenal talents worthy of the award, but the choice has to be Curry. The Warriors can and have won without Durant, but they have not won without their point guard. That’s not to say that they wouldn’t win without Curry, but the way Curry stretches out a defense and forces the opposing point guard to defend from half court, opening everything else for Klay, Durant, and Draymond.